President Obama on 'The Butler': 'Oprah, My Girl, She Can Act'

President Obama on 'The Butler': 'Oprah, My Girl, She Can Act' (ABC News)

President Obama admitted that the powerful acting of Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Cuba Gooding Jr. in "The Butler" forced the leader of the free world to shed a few tears.

"I teared up thinking about not just the butlers who worked here in the White House, but an entire generation of people who were talented and skilled," he told Tom Joyner during a radio interview Tuesday. "But because of Jim Crow and because of discrimination, there was only so far they could go."

The commander-in-chief added that he thought Oscar-winner Whitaker was "wonderful" in a movie about a black servant working in the White House for multiple presidents. He also liked Winfrey's portrayal of Whitaker's alcoholic wife.

"Oprah, my girl, she can act," he said. "She's just a wonderful actress."

Before ending the interview, Obama shed some light on how his butlers in the White House today look after Michelle and his girls "just wonderfully."

"They could not have been kinder to us and warmer to us," he added. "And part of it, I suspect, is they look at Malia and Sasha and they say, well, this looks like my grandbaby, or this looks like my daughter. And I think for them to have a sense that we've come that far was a powerful moment for them."